Asakusa Street, Unit 4
by twiggosaur
Summary: A special place filled with quirks and lots of dust. Owner Mahiru is a collector who's obsessed with coffee. Shikamaru is Konoha's lazy, sleepy genius. She wakes him up. He calms her down. In an offbeat way, attraction is unstoppable.
1. Chapter 1

**The "mood" took me and I just had to attempt another Shikamaru fic, this time on a new account. Please treat me well, and if you wish, provide me with some constructive criticism! I'm constantly running my OCs through Mary Sue litmus tests, and I absolutely detest Mary Sues, so GIVE ME A WARNING IF I'M STARTING TO LEAN IN THAT DIRECTION. I'm going to try and make this as un-Maryish as possible.**

**Thank you for stopping by!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Shikamaru or Naruto. OCs are my own.**

* * *

Chapter 1: Coffee, Laundry, and Sunshine

He and the weather had a love-hate relationship. When the weather was nice, Shikamaru's mood was lighter—happy, even. And if it wasn't…well, you know what happens then.

His favorite sort was those lazy days when the sky was a baby blue and had the perfect amount of clouds floating through it—the perfect day to just sprawl out on the green grass and do whatever you want: sleep, eat, cloud-gaze…_breathe_.

That's what he needed right now: to breathe. No more work, no more stupid meetings, no more paperwork. He'd had enough with Tsunade-sama wringing him out with new jobs, with his father commenting about his attitude ("You're 16 already. When are you going to shape up?"), his mother making herself comfortable at his new apartment ("Your flat is a pigsty. Are you a human being?"). And _they_ asked why he had zero motivation.

Today was as awful as anything. Nothing was going right—he overslept and skipped breakfast to make it to the first meeting of several, dozed off during the third before being rudely awoken by the growls of his own stomach, and was given an earful by the Hokage herself and, as a crude punishment, was sent to be yelled at his own mother.

His _mother_. He was 16, for God's sake!

To make things worse, the insultingly gray weather had taken a turn for the worse: the rumble of thunder made it clear that a storm was coming.

Just as the first few droplets pelted his head, Shikamaru glanced at the note in his hand:

_To the lazy bum who is my son –_

_Shape up and stop getting yelled at. Tsunade-sama put me in charge of putting you in your place. You're off from work for the rest of the day, but I know that you're just going to take this time to do nothing productive. Run some errands for me._

_Or I'll kill you. Twice. With relish._

Shikamaru groaned before checking behind him for his tyrant-of-a-mother. Some of the headache panging at the back of Shikamaru's head lessened but returned at full force as he scrutinized the note again, ignoring the fact that he was getting soaked by the rain.

_Tomatoes: organic, not too red, not too green, firm to the touch, Nakabara style (4)_

_Also, go to this address and borrow a malamba lamp for me:_

_Asakusa Street, Unit 4_

Crazy old woman. What kind of obsession did she have with tomatoes, anyway? And what _was_Nakabara style?

Shikamaru slung the shopping basket over his shoulder and yawned. _If only it was sunny and the grass was dry..._

The outdoor market wasn't bustling as it usually was; only a few stragglers here and there. Shikamaru bent underneath the flap of one of the little tents selling produce and glanced at the tomatoes, silky and red in their little cardboard pockets. The signs said, "Ringo style", "Akai hana style", "Yasha style", and "Akapolka style", which was a very mysterious purpley-looking tomato that seemed to have sprouted another head.

Shikamaru didn't want to know what the last one was.

"Uh..." he asked, catching the shopkeeper's attention. "Do you have, uh...organic, not too red, not too green, firm to the touch, Nakabara style tomatoes?" As soon as he was done with this, he could go home and _sleep_. A breeze blew past his clothes and he shivered. Maybe get some ramen at Ichiraku's too.

"Oh, _Nakabara_style!" the shopkeeper exclaimed, clapping her hands together. "Yes, yes! I have a very special stock-how many do you need?"

Shikamaru recalled his mother's words. "Four."

The shopkeeper dug in a small carton of tomatoes-they looked like any other tomatoes, really-before coming out with four ripe ones. "Here you go, 10,000 coins, please."

"_What_?" Shikamaru's eyebrows drew together as he glanced at the tomatoes, which honestly looked the same as the "regular" tomatoes at 500 coins apiece. There was no way he was going to pay such an exorbitant price. It was a hassle to haggle, anyway.

"Never mind, I'll have four of the regular tomatoes, please," Shikamaru sighed. The shopkeeper looked like she wanted to argue, but a loud clap of thunder interrupted her onslaught.

"It's storming! I need to close up shop soon, sir, that'll be 2000 coins total." Grabbing the money hastily out of Shikamaru's hands, she gestured for him to pick out his tomatoes and leave.

Shikamaru glanced at the array of produce before snatching up any four of them and ducking to avoid the incoming rain.

"Great. Just what I needed," he muttered as he ducked under another shopkeeper's canopy.

"Hey, get out of there, boy, I need to close up shop! It's going to be a real bad storm, and it's not going to let up anytime soon!" the man hollered.

Groaning inwardly, Shikamaru protected the tomatoes as best he could and searched for the nearest place he could take refuge in...at least until the storm was over. As he squinted through the pelting rain, he saw a small sign leading towards a back alley:

**Bored? Visit Asakusa Unit 4 for all your cures for boredom! Open anytime, any day, but not every day.**

**Currently: OPEN**

The name seemed familiar; Shikamaru realized that he needed to borrow some kind of lamp contraption from them. Dashing into the alley, he pushed open the creaky metal door and entered the small landing. It led to a steep staircase going downwards into a basement. There was laughter filtering through the bead curtain separating the bottom of the staircase from whatever lay beyond. A distinct burnt smell also wafted under Shikamaru's nose.

He had half of a mind to hightail it out of there and visit Choji's apartment for use of his warm house, and considered abandoning his mother's mission.

"_Or I'll kill you. Twice. With relish." _Somehow, the idea of sneaking to Choji's house didn't seem so appealing anymore.

In any case, Shikamaru was getting cold so he ventured down the staircase and lifted the teal-and-pink bead curtain, relaxing when he was greeted with a blast of warm, comforting air.

The room was larger than he thought it would be. Filled with bookcases of an assortment of memorabilia, the room's warmth came from a roaring fire from a fireplace at one side of the wall. Model airplanes hung from the ceiling, and several armchairs and couches were scattered around a single square table. Piles of books were stacked in a corner, and the room smelled of musty tomes, coffee, and something else that Shikamaru couldn't quite pinpoint. Something nice, like the smell blankets had after being dried in the sun for an afternoon.

There was a door leading to a back room and a staircase leading to another floor. A sign hung across it, saying, "PRIVATE - OWNER'S QUARTERS"

There were several people crowded around the table, bent over what seemed to be a card game. They looked up when Shikamaru entered the room.

The first was an elderly man with spectacles and a balding head. He squinted at the newcomer for a moment before muttering something and turning back to the card game. The second was a small boy, about nine or ten, who locked gazes with Shikamaru for a second before he, too, returned to the game. The last was a middle-aged woman with shocking red hair, who grinned, revealing a missing front tooth. "Hey! I haven't seen you before!" Turning, she yelled into the back room, "MAHIRU! Get your butt out of the kitchen, there's a new kid here!"

Shikamaru watched as a small, wiry girl dash out of the back room, black hair fashioned in an intricate side braid. There wasn't much unusual about her face, but he thought she was around fourteen or fifteen. Maybe even the same age as him. Catching sight of Shikamaru, she smiled broadly and skidded to a stop in front of him. "Hi there! May I help you?"

"I'm just getting shelter from the storm outside," Shikamaru commented as he looked around. "Some place you've got here." His eyes flickered to the girl, who held his gaze steadily. "You seem kind of young to be running a place like this by yourself."

She shrugged. "Not so young. I'm 16. And this is something of an early inheritance." Evidently, she noticed the expression of disbelief on Shikamaru's face, because she sighed and shrugged. "Baby face. Runs in the family. I get asked about it a lot.

"Anyway, welcome to my place, where the wanderers, stragglers, and bored people come to play. Open any time but not all the time. I'm Mahiru."

"Shikamaru," he replied.

"You can set those tomatoes somewhere-go warm yourself up by the fire. If you'd like to join those three, they're playing poker." Shinju pointed at each of them in turn. "The old guy's Basha. He's your typical persnickety old coot." (She continued on, ignoring a deadly glare from the elderly man.) "The crazy redhead is Auntie Oma, and the baby's Ko."

Ko's eyebrows drew together indignantly. "I'm not a baby! I'm ten!"

"Ten and short," Shinju countered. "Anyone who's younger _and_ shorter than me is a baby. Now, sit yourself down and I'll get us all some coffee. Not to brag, Shikamaru, but I make the best coffee in Konoha!"

"Can I have coffee, too?" Ko asked, eyes sparkling.

"Cocoa for youngsters," Mahiru called from the back room, which Shikamaru suspected the smoke was floating out of. He set his shopping basket next to a kaleidoscope and a snow globe before walking to the room that Mahiru disappeared in.

It was a kitchen, with blue-and-white tiles and an old yellow refrigerator in the corner. There was a door leading out to the back; from the window, Shikamaru could make out a little vegetable garden. The smoke was indeed coming from a pan of charred _something_. It was too unidentifiable to tell.

Mahiru was bent over a coffee maker, grinding some coffee beans insistently. They probably smelled nice, but Shikamaru's nose was too clogged up with smoke to be able to tell.

She glanced up apologetically. "Sorry. Failed attempt at pancakes. But don't you like eating pancakes in drafty weather like this?"

"Not particularly." In fact, he hated pancakes. However, Shikamaru's sullen retort did nothing to sway her mood, and she put the coffee-bean-grinding on hold to scamper outside.

A deep, sweet wave wafted into Shikamaru's face as she blew past him. He found himself inhaling deeply, closing his eyes and relaxing. It smelled not only of coffee, but also of warm sunshine and the scent of laundry after it dries for an afternoon.

_It smelled good._

Mahiru had probably fiddled around with a record player buried somewhere in her mess of treasures, because soon enough, she returned to the kitchen humming to some jazz music. She was dreadfully off-key, even Shikamaru could tell, but he didn't have a musical bone in his body, anyway.

"I love coffee," she said conversationally. "I guess you could call me an addict." She poured the ground coffee bean bits into a type of cylindrical can with a spout on the end and added hot water. Then, she took a long-handled spoon and pressed the coffee down before pouring in some more boiling water.

Shikamaru found himself leaning forward to watch. She smiled, catching him off guard. "Smells good, right? I make a trip every year to a special coffee bean farm just to get these babies."

He nodded mutely. She kind of had a pretty smile.

Mahiru put the top on the can and pressed down the plunger on the cap before lifting it up slightly. Then, she waited.

"Do you like coffee?" she asked again.

The coffee questions were starting to get a little annoying, but Shikamaru decided not to be rude. After all, he _was_ imposing on her shop. "Normally I drink tea. If I do drink coffee, it's instant."

Her expression was so exaggeratedly aghast that Shikamaru snorted. "What kind of a face is that?"

She blinked several times before joining in his laughter. "Well, how can you _drink_ that stuff? It's like…watered down dirt in a cup!"

He shrugged in response. "Never drank a good cup of coffee, I guess."

"Ha." Mahiru stuck her nose up in the air proudly. "Trust me, one drink of this elixir and you'll never go back."

"Right…" Shikamaru said doubtfully.

"Oh, hush. Drink!" Tossing the first dash of coffee that had some bits of bean in it, she poured him a cup of the drink and shoved it into his face.

Somehow her forwardness reminded him of his mother, but he pushed that thought away as he took the cup.

Covered in a thin layer of foam, Shikamaru had to admit that the coffee smelled _good_. Like a thicker, deeper version of the cloud that was still jogging his brain as Mahiru stepped near him, carrying a tray of jam cookies.

"Come on, let's sit and relax until the rain stops."

_Relax._ That plan was very appealing to him.

Shikamaru waited until he was seated comfortably in a plushy armchair before he finally took a sip.

_Aaaaaah._

He cracked open one eye to glance at Mahiru, whose eyes were glittering in expectation. Somehow he didn't feel like satisfying her…yet. "It's okay, I guess…"

The girl's face fell. It was comical, really; her eyebrows and the corners of her mouth dropped dramatically, her eyes drooping downwards. Shikamaru forced down the snort of laughter in his throat and smoothed his expression out.

"Better than instant, though."

Her entire expression brightened, and she nodded in a sort of 'I-told-you-so' way. "Are you kidding me? _Anything_ would be better than stuff like that."

Meanwhile, Ko's face wrinkled up. "_What about my cocoa?_"

"Oh, shoot! I'm sorry!" Shooting up from her seat next to Shikamaru, she dashed into the kitchen. There was a giant crash and a shriek as the sound of pots and pans tumbling down echoed throughout the room.

_Great. Now I have to get up again._ Shikamaru snuck another drink from the cup before stretching and walking to the kitchen, feeling slightly worried. He leaned into the room to find Mahiru laughing sheepishly under a pile of kitchenware.

"I'm okay!" She crawled to her feet and slipped on the tile floor, uttering a piercing shriek again.

_This girl is a handful._ Sighing, Shikamaru stepped forward to catch her. "Just…stand in a corner or something and don't make trouble." He bent down to collect the brass pans, feeling tired, annoyed, and overworked. _Why am I doing this?_

"Are you sure? But—" the girl started to protest, but he quelled her with one irritated look.

"_Go stand where you won't knock stuff over._"

"Yes sir." She slunk away, watching him worriedly as he hung the pans up and collected the other fallen items.

"Where's the cocoa mix?" he asked, washing his hands wearily. _Why am I doing this?_ he asked himself again.

Somehow, he couldn't find the answer. That bothered him.

"In the cupboard, second from the left," she called from her stance in the corner.

He pulled down a cardboard box labeled 'Cocoa' and glanced at the packets lined up neatly inside, a paradox to the state of the outside room. "Instant, huh?"

She flushed and looked away. "Cocoa's different. It all tastes the same, anyway."

He shook his head. "Hypocrite."

"I am not!" She burst out indignantly. "I'm just…selectively biased."

"What's the difference?" he scoffed, measuring out two spoonfuls and haphazardly dumping water into a yellow mug that he found under the sink. Mahiru winced noticeably, but she stayed in her spot until Shikamaru finished stirring.

He set the mug down in front of Ko, who glanced at it apprehensively. The brown liquid still had chunks of powder floating around, and Ko had to stir it to dissolve the remaining particles.

_My work here is done._ Shikamaru collapsed onto his armchair, sipping his coffee once more.

_Aaaaaaaah._

Meanwhile, Mahiru slunk down to the seat next to him and drew her knees up forlornly. "I'm sorry." Her voice was small. "I'm an idiot. I don't even know you, and I made you mad."

He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. Her brown eyes were glassy and her bottom lip was quivering. The coffee soured in his mouth, and he put his cup down.

"Don't be. I'm just tired." When the girl still didn't look convinced, he sighed.

_This is troublesome._

"I'm just unusually irritable today, okay? Just forget it."

"You're not making me feel any better, you know!" she yelled, wiping at a tear that slipped down her cheek angrily.

Shikamaru felt bad, but somehow he wasn't feeling up to being _polite_ and _gentlemanly_. Besides, she was annoying. More than Ino, even.

"Then what am I supposed to say?" he hissed, not exactly shouting but not quietly either.

Mahiru jumped.

The other three, who had been quietly playing a game and eavesdropping on the two, dropped their cards simultaneously.

Even Shikamaru was surprised at himself—he didn't expect to _yell_ at her, but it just slipped out.

Mahiru stood abruptly, her bangs hiding her expression. "I'm sorry, can you please leave? I don't want to talk to you right now."

Feeling the tips of his ears burn with embarrassment and frustration, Shikamaru silently stood and walked out through the bead curtain.

It was still raining outside.

He closed his eyes, raised his head to the sky, and let himself be soaked.

She gazed at the coffee cup left on the table. It was empty, drained of it contents completely.

* * *

"Shikamaru, where—goodness gracious, you're soaked!" His mother ran to him with a towel, rubbing his hair before studying him closely. "…You're angry. What's wrong?"

"I'm tired and I don't want to talk about it." He passed by her in a sullen wave of heat.

"...You didn't bring my tomatoes back. I was going to make your favorite tomato pie," his mother mumbled.

He cursed inwardly. _Her and her stupid tomatoes!_ "I left them at her place. And I _hate_ tomato pie!"

Shikamaru regretted his words instantly.

"Well, you didn't have to say it like that!" Yoshino shouted, furious but with a distinct wobble that told Shikamaru that she was near tears.

_Just like that stupid, scrawny midget._

"Fine! If you don't want to eat my food, don't eat at all!" His mother stormed off.

He groaned.

Great.

Now there were _two_ troublesome women mad at him.

* * *

The next day, Shikamaru went to work, dreading yet another tiresome day.

"Parcel for you, Shikamaru!" One of the office clerks waved around a small parcel wrapped in brown paper. "A girl came by really early and dropped it off for you."

He accepted it, confused. There was a note attached to it, written carefully in a smooth, clear hand:

_I'm sorry. _

_By the way, I still have your tomatoes._

_M_

He lifted the parcel to his nose and breathed in the scent of sweet coffee, fresh laundry, and sunshine.

Then, he realized that he never did get the malamba lamp after all.

And to his growing horror, he found that he was smiling.

* * *

**I'm still figuring out the logistics behind Shikamaru and Mahiru's characters so please go a little easy on me for that bit. :P For those who were referred here by my account, I did change their ages from 26 to 16, the approximate ages during the Shippuden series. I might include the Shinobi War in this story (depending on if I'm able to even GET there) but for convenience's sake, just ignore the Shippuden timeline. There will be minimal conflicts involving the actual Naruto storyline, and Mahiru will (most likely) NOT become a ninja.**

**Until next time,**

**Twiggy**

**R E V I E W !**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Daisies and the Lamp

**Mahiru's POV**

It was a beautiful day, a stark difference from the stormy weather of yesterday. I returned home after dropping off the package of coffee beans at the Hokage's building. After seeing Shikamaru's shinobi headband on his arm, I figured that it was the best place to deliver something as discreetly as possible.

I checked on my potted plants on the rooftop as I worried myself silly.

_What if he's still mad? He seemed like an awfully nice person for helping me, and, oh, oh—_

Oh, who was I kidding. I was undeniably childish to him, and being a weepy idiot to someone who was obviously having a hard time. It would be unsurprising if he never came back again.

I sighed. _Can't deny that he was _really_ attractive. Even if he completely chewed me out._

Satisfied that my plants were safe, I trotted down to the second (technically the ground) floor where my private quarters were. My walls were painted a seafoam green and decorated with the seashells I collected from years past at the beach. Garlands of pretty, twinkly fairy lights adorned the door to my bedroom.

Not to brag, but if I was an interior designer, I'd be pretty damn good at it.

I pushed open the door and went to search for my box of origami paper. Every year, I folded 1000 paper cranes for the kindergarten I worked at with my best friend, Momoka. The shop itself didn't make any money since I lent out the things for free, so I worked at the kindergarten three-quarters of the week.

After collecting the paper, I ran downstairs to begin folding, flipping the switch that opened the skylight on the way. Bumping into a plastic figurine of a frog, I grabbed it by the head and steadied it before it tumbled down the stairway.

_Whew._

"Are you always this clumsy?"

My eyes widened and I looked up. "_Shika_—oh my goodness."

The tips of his ears were pinking as he shoved a small bouquet of daisies into my face.

Dazed, I accepted the bouquet, confused. "What's this for?"

He rubbed the back of his neck, evidently not sure how to begin. "I didn't…yelling at you like that…it's wasn't on purpose." Shikamaru shifted his stance uneasily.

Oh. _Oh._

It was silent for a few moments before he tried to speak again.

"I…got the coffee beans. Thanks."

I unhinged my jaw. "…You're welcome." Squeezing the stalks of the flowers tightly in my hands, I breathed in its scent. "Thank you very much. These are the first flowers anyone has ever given me."

This seemed to unnerve him, because he started fidgeting even more and his ears got even redder. Finally, he sighed. "Don't worry about it." His ears returned to its normal color.

"Um…"

_Well, this is awkward._

"Want to…stay for some coffee?"

He looked a little relieved. I wasn't sure why—maybe because I didn't get mad at him or something. "Yeah."

Shikamaru watched me as we sat on the floor, him sipping his coffee (I do think that I converted him) and me folding away in a myriad of colors.

"Isn't it troublesome to do this paper folding stuff?" he asked as he examined a purple-colored crane.

"Well, sure, but I _like_ to do it," I answered, finishing off a yellow one and plopping it into a jar.

"Don't you have to work?" he asked bluntly, tossing the violet bird into the glass jar with the yellow once he was done with it.

"The store is my job," I answered simply. "It's an inheritance that my great-uncle gave me. Never met him before but he's really wealthy, so he provides for me as long as I keep the shop alive and collect stuff. But I work at my friend's kindergarten—it's called Himawari Youchien, and it's about the cutest thing ever."

"That's the life," he commented. _Slurrrrp._ He drained the mug of its caffeine.

"It is," I agreed. "I don't know _what_ I did in my past life, but it must've been good. Anyways, I'm not really good at anything in particular _except_ for collecting and taking care of kids. I flunked out of Ninja Academy, did you know that?"

"I wasn't aware that anyone could _flunk_ out of the Academy," he commented dryly, although I didn't understand the joke behind it. "What'd you do?"

Taking a break from the cranes, I leaned back on an ottoman instead and folded my hands onto my lap. "It wasn't as much as what I _did_ do, it was what I _didn't_ do. Basically I wasn't compatible at all with the profession, so I transferred to a regular school instead."

He reached for one of the papers and folded a lopsided airplane lazily, tossing it and watching the plane float through the air. "Where are your parents?"

"Not here."

Shikamaru glanced sideways awkwardly.

"…I meant that they're not _here_ here. They're still alive, just not in Konoha." I laughed quietly. "Went off on their worldly travels. That's where a lot of my stuff comes from."

Shikamaru grunted in reply, eyes still on the airplane.

"What about you?"

"Huh?" He looked up, looking slightly disoriented.

"I've told you about myself, but I don't know much about you," I elaborated.

He was quiet for a moment before I started regretting my decision. What if I touched on something _unmentionable_? Like, what if he had some kind of terrible past and now I dug it all up and—

"I have a frustratingly intelligent father and a vicious, tyrant of a mother. I'm a Jonin. I like playing shogi and go." He paused. "Oh, and I was sent here by my mom to get some kind of lamp."

My mind flashed back to Yoshino-san, who had come into the shop a couple days before to borrow the malamba lamp. "Oh, are you Yoshino-san's son?"

He shrugged, yawning. "Nara Shikamaru, that's me."

"_Aaaah_, I get it now. Hold on, let me find the lamp." Retreating to the far corner of the room, I stepped over a pile of books and ducked underneath a hanging lamp to find what I called The Clutter Stash. Filled with an assortment of toys, books, items, and collectibles, it was large and almost impossible to navigate through unless, of course, you were experienced like me.

It took me several minutes to find what I was looking for. "Aha!"

Victoriously, I held up the green lamp with dancing tomatoes in hula skirts for Shikamaru to see. His eyebrows drew together as he eyed the lamp doubtfully, mumbling something about his mother's taste or whatnot. In any case, I thought that the lamp was _cute_. A little funny, but come on, it was unique!

Standing on my tiptoes, I reached for the lending slip hanging on a hook on the wall, scribbling onto it with a crayon:

_Nara Yoshino_

_Malamba lamp_

_2 weeks_

_Asakusa Mahiru, Asakusa Unit 4_

I ripped the slip off its pad and handed it to Shikamaru. "Tell your mother that I hope she has a lovely tomato party."

"_Tomato_ party?" Even Shikamaru couldn't hide his disbelief.

"You mean you didn't know?"

He gave me a pointed look and tucked the slip into his pocket. Glancing at the lamp doubtfully, he edged away slightly.

"You're not planning on ditching and leaving the lamp here, are you?" I asked suspiciously. "Yoshino-san will be _awfully disappointed_, if you know what I mean."

Although his expression didn't change, Shikamaru's Adam's apple bobbed up and down, expressing his nervousness.

Yeah. No kidding. The first time she came, she got so mad at one of the other customers that she punched the lights out of him.

"Tsunade-sama will kill me if I ditch work any longer," he said quietly, hauling the lamp up with a grudging, _why-do-I-have-to-do-this_ air.

I nodded. "Sorry for keeping you so long. Thank you for the flowers."

Shikamaru nodded once, meeting my eyes. I felt a hot flush creep up my neck, threatening to explode.

"S-See you around?" I called hopefully to his back.

He didn't reply, but waved his hand in assent before disappearing behind the bead curtain. At least, I think it was in assent. Or was he saying, "You're annoying, go away"?

Shoot.

* * *

Shopping bag in tow, I darted out the house and locked the door tightly. It was no good letting thieves in.

Now...where to? I scanned over my mental list and mapped out my route.

First to the flower shop to pick up some flowers for Momoka's birthday. Then, to the bookstore to sell some used books. And finally, down to the daycare where I would take over for Momoka for the day.

I hummed as I skipped to the closest flower shop: Yamanaka Flowers. The main daycare teacher, Momoka, was the most adorable person ever. Thin, pretty, and mature, she was the idol of every girl and the crush of every boy (at the daycare, at least). The daycare had been of her own making, a dream of hers ever since middle school. She had a boyfriend who was handsome and tall, and she was my best friend. As an employee and her friend, I knew that she deserved the day off instead of working full-time with me as a part-timer like it usually was.

The clerk was a girl I'd never seen before (then again, I didn't go to the flower shop too often), with almost white-blonde hair tied in a long ponytail. She greeted me brightly. "Hi, welcome to Yamanaka Flowers! My name is Ino, can I help you?"

"I'm looking for a bouquet," I told her. "For a birthday."

"Great! Do you have anything particular in mind?" She stepped around the counter to join me in looking at the rows of bouquets at the wall.

"Uh..." I glanced at the bewildering array of flora and winced. "My friend likes sunflowers, but I don't want to give her _only_ sunflowers, you know? Something more feminine…Do you have any suggestions?"

"I can make a customized bouquet for you," Ino suggested. "Maybe some sweet peas or some daisies?"

I thought of my own daisy bouquet at home and glanced down at my intertwined fingers. The hairs on the back of my neck flared and prickled as I flushed.

Ino eyed me speculatively. "Sorry if I'm being overly presumptuous," she said slowly, "but did you happen to get a bouquet of baby daisies this morning?"

Paling, I stepped away from her. "Did you spy on me?" I whispered, horrified.

She snorted. "No, I sold them to the idiot who gave it to you!" She chortled again, this time in a victorious manner. "Ha, Shikamaru'll never know what came over him," she muttered.

I probably looked really confused, because she glanced over at me and giggled. "Sorry, it's just that I've never gotten a piece of gossip about Shikamaru that was this juicy-man, I have to go tell Mrs. Nara ASAP." She laughed again.

"Uh, do you _know_ Shikamaru?" I asked, puzzled.

"Do I know him? Sheesh, I grew up with the kid!" Ino folded her arms. "We were teammates back in our genin days, and boy, was he a pain in the butt."

"Oh!" I smiled tentatively at her. "Well, I'm Asakusa Mahiru."

"Yamanaka Ino." She took my hand and pumped it up and down eagerly. "We should hang out sometime. I'll put some makeup on you—it'll make you look _so_ much prettier."

"Uh…" I hesitated. "I don't really like the feel of makeup…it kind of makes me sick. Sorry."

"Oh, don't worry about it. Maybe on a special occasion, then." Ino bent down, flipping her gorgeous blond hair over her shoulder. "Hmm, sunflowers, sunflowers…ooh, you know what would look absolutely _precious_? Sunflowers with yellow lilies and roses. Maybe with something green to add some color variation—what do you think?"

"Great!" I actually wasn't super sure, but I trusted her judgment. Besides, yellow _was_ Momoka's favorite color.

"Cool, I'll go to the back and put it together. It'll take about 15 minutes, do you have anywhere you need to go?"

"I'll be at the bookstore, then," I said. She waved me off.

Ino seemed nice, but I wasn't sure I liked her all that much. A little bit _too_ girly-girl for me.

The bookstore wasn't very busy, as usual. I walked up to the bookkeeper, a young woman named Beni. "I'm here to sell some books!"

Beni smiled, pushing up her glasses and putting down her book. "Morning, Mahiru. Let me see what you've got."

Rummaging in my shopping bag, I dug out two books that my father sent me. I'd cracked it open, read the first chapter, couldn't put it down, and was horribly embarrassed and ashamed of myself.

I kept my metaphorical hat on and pushed the books toward her. _Pretend you didn't read it, pretend you didn't read it, pretend you didn't read it…_

"Icha Icha Paradise?" Beni exclaimed. Half the people in the bookstore turned. I shrunk in my shoes. "Isn't this a vintage copy? It's worth a _lot_!"

"Uh, is it?" I laughed uneasily. "Well, I, uh, don't need it or anything…like, I've never even _read_ it or anything—"

"Awful liar, little girl," Beni interrupted, thumbing through the pages. "Anyways, no need to fear, everyone's read it at least once, even if they claim otherwise. _Unfortunately_, my bookstore doesn't endorse these books anymore due to a rather _untimely_ incident a couple weeks ago, but I know someone who will pay a pretty penny for these."

"Oh! Really?" I brightened. Anything to rid my home of the scandalous tome.

"Yeah. I don't know his address, but if you really want to sell these, we can keep it at the store and I can sell it to him on your behalf, and I'll give you the money the next time you drop by." She smiled, but muttered something like "_Maybe that'll teach him to stop bothering me_" under her breath.

I had nothing against the deal, and I'd known Beni for a while, so I agreed and gratefully handed the books over. "Anything good in stock?"

Her sour expression disappeared immediately. "Yup! I have something that I think you would _adore_—it's called To Make a Life." She handed me a book that had a simple teal blue cover. "It's about a bird who falls in love with a sick invalid through a hospital window."

I raised my eyebrows. "_Really?_ Well…that's interesting…but it's kind of—"

"Out of the ordinary?" Beni finished. "Right? I stole this to read at home and finished it overnight. _So. Good._"

"Then I'll take it!" Anything Beni recommended was sure to be amazing.

Burying my nose deep inside the book, I began walking zig-zaggedly through the street as I trotted back to the flower shop.

I had an awful habit of mouthing the words that I read out loud.

"_The first time I saw him, it was winter. Cold months even for my teal blue feathers. Even more so for his pale, pale skin and even paler eyes…"_

"Whoa, watch it, kid!"

I slammed face-first into someone's rock hard shoulder. Hearing my jaw clack together roughly from the collision, I backed away, swaying slightly. When the stars had been blinked away from my eyes, I refocused at the man in front of me.

Actually, _man_ was a bit of an overstatement. Sure, he was big, and tall (probably over two heads taller than me?) but he looked no older than I was. Maybe seventeen, or even eighteen if I had to stretch it a bit.

"Sorry," I apologized, though I felt a bud of annoyance sprout as I glanced up at his self-righteous, arrogant scowl.

It turns out my judgment of him was correct, because the moment I apologized, his scowl turned into a full-blown sneer. "_Sorry_ won't cut it, little girl. You just _dented_ my new shinobi headband, you know that?"

So _that's_ why my nose hurt so stinking much. I glanced at the headband attached to his sleeve, cheeks warming up as I remembered my visitor that very morning.

But Shikamaru was leagues better than _this_ kid, Big and Scary was just a genin!

Then again I wasn't even ninja status.

Shoot.

"Well?" Big and Scary prodded me roughly on my shoulder. "What are you going to do about it, huh, punk?"

_Punk?_ Sure, I'd been told that sometimes I didn't say the right things, and sometimes I was downright rude to people, but I was _not_ a punk.

"Are you stupid?" I demanded, subconsciously realizing that I was only goading him on and doing nothing to reassure that I was going to be in a relatively safe state by the time I got to the kindergarten. Nevertheless, my brain worked slower than my mouth did.

"Why on earth would you think a girl like me could put a dent in your headband with my _nose_?"

I think I had some logic in that phrase, because he seemed to be thinking about it himself. "Well, pay up, buddy," he snarled, evidently deciding to swindle me of my money instead of thinking. "This is my first day as a genin and I'm _not_ going to let you get away with ruining my precious headband!"

He shook his headband in my face, which I realized _did_ have a rather ugly dent in it.

_Is my nose that hard?_

Big and Scary's scowl stretched into a creepy leer. "Unless you want to pay with your _body_."

This was enough. I kicked my foot up (I was wearing pointy cowboy boots) and jabbed my heel into his calf. "Pedophile!" I shouted.

Again, my lack of athletic ability gave me a slower reaction time in comparison to the genin. Just as I turned to scurry off in relative (childish) victory, he hooked a hand on the back of my shirt and thrust me to the ground, where I (literally) ate the dirt.

_Owwwwww…_

Blinking dizzily again as my head took a harsh bashing for the second time that day, I tried to scramble to my feet before the incoming giant could land another hit on me. The world spun and swerved out from under my feet, and I stumbled to the floor again (thankfully, avoiding a head injury this time).

I couldn't help noticing that my eyes and nose were leaking like a faucet. With blood or tears, I didn't know. Maybe both.

"HEY! What are you doing outside of my shop? To a girl, no less!"

_Smack smack smack smack_

"Ugh…"

There was the sound of flesh eating the ground and then an eerie silence, except for the crunching of footsteps coming closer to me, and…

"Holy mackerel, are you okay, Mahiru?" A strong arm lifted me up and started brushing clods of dirt off my face. "You took…quite a fall. Come on, I know medical ninjutsu."

It was Ino. She glanced at me worriedly. "Hey, you okay? Talk to me."

"…Ouch," I finally said, my voice wobbling a little at the end.

She smiled sympathetically. "It's all right, I took care of the dumb guy. Let's go—can you walk?"

I nodded, but she let me lean on her anyway as we hobbled back to the florist's shop together.

I changed my mind.

Ino was a good girl.

* * *

"Mahiru! Where were—_oh my God, what happened?_" Momoka shrieked loudly, dropping a broom and rushing over to cup my cheek gently.

Ino was, fortunately, a medical ninja, and healed most of my cuts and scrapes. She said, however, that the bruise on my cheek wasn't going to fade as easily. Thankfully, instead of a glorious looking eggplant stain, my cheek was tinged in an olive green color.

"Happy birthday!" I yelled loudly, whipping the flowers out from behind my back and shoving it into Momoka's face. Maybe this would distract her.

It didn't. She smiled gratefully at me and accepted the bouquet before resuming a frown. "_What happened to your cheek, Mahiru_?"

Uh-oh. The Mommy voice came out.

"I fell," I said honestly. "You know, the usual." Not so honest.

She sighed. "Well, go and get ready. The kids will come any second."

"…Aaaand you're not going to work today!" I announced, tying my apron around my waist and pinning on a nametag in the shape of a sunflower.

Momoka cocked her head. "You don't mean…"

"Yes. Yes I do mean." I started pushing her out the door. "Don't worry about today, I can handle it. Just go have fun with your boyfriend and forget all about working."

"But you can't possibly take care of 20 children by yourself!" Momoka protested.

"Oh, yes I can!" I yelled over her voice, effectively drowning her out. "I can _totally_ handle this."

* * *

I totally _couldn't_ handle this.

I had grossly overestimated my child-caring skills.

The room was a mess, two vases were broken, three kids were crying, and to top it all off, we were well behind schedule.

Chaos. This was chaos.

"Everyone, let's play a game!" I yelled loudly over the hubbub, about to have a seizure.

When they had gathered, I crouched down and pressed my finger to my lips. "Let's all play the quiet game. Whoever's the quietest and doesn't move will get extra animal crackers at snacktime." I stood up. "Remember, I have eyes all around this room!"

Then I used the chance to dash into the adjacent room, rip the business card out of my back pocket, and punch in the numbers frantically.

"_Hello, Yamanaka Flowers, Ino speaking."_

"Hi, Ino, this is Mahiru. I hate to bother you so soon, but…"

* * *

"Shikamaru! _Shikamaru!_" Ino burst into the Hokage's room, breathing heavily. Where _was_ that stupid guy?

"Sorry for interrupting, Tsunade-sama, but have you seen Shikamaru?" she asked, out of breath.

"Shikamaru?" The Hokage paused to think. "He should be in a meeting, but I believe it will end in about fifteen minutes. Why?"

"Tsunade-sama," Ino's voice took on a wheedling tone, "don't you think Shikamaru would focus so much more on his current duties if he experienced some jobs that he definitely _wouldn't_ enjoy doing?"

"…Explain."

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